Melton cinema-goers donate £900 to lifeboat charity after Fisherman’s Friends movie

Members of the Melton and Rutland branch of the Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) collected the cash at the town’s Regal Cinema.

They chose the film because it is based on the true story of a Cornish singing group, made up of fishermen, coastguards and lifeboat men, who won a major record deal with their sea shanties.

Richard Brett, one of the collectors for the branch, said: “We were really surprised and absolutely delighted by the money people donated after the film was shown.

“I would say about 80 per cent of those who watched the film at Melton put something in our box and hardly anyone put in less than £1.

“There were about 10 showings of the film and we collected more than £900.

“There are four more showings in July so we hope people will again give generously after they’ve watched it.”

The charity is grateful for all donations because it gets no goverment funding for the work it does, often involving saving lives.

Mr Brett, who has raised money for the charity for 10 years, praised the cinema owners for emabling them to go ahead with the collections.

He added: “People are very supportive of our charity across the country because they know how important it is.

“The film is absolutely perfect in terms of raising the profile of what lifeboatmen do - it’s funny, sad and, of course, it’s a true story.”

Fisherman’s Friends, which stars Daniel Mays, James Purefoy and Tuppence Middleton, is showing again at the Regal Cinema on July 8, 9, 10 and 11.